1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a compatible disc player designed for playing recording discs of different types.
2. Description of Background Information
The so-called compatible disc player is already known, such disc players are designed to be capable of playing several types of discs produced according to different standards, with different disc diameters, for instance. Examples of such discs are Laser Disc (hereinafter, abbreviated as LD) and Compact Disc (hereinafter, abbreviated as CD).
One such conventional disc player, disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 63-53746, is shown in FIG. 1.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the conventional player has a tray 201 on which are provided three concentrically arranged circular concave portions 201a through 201c respectively for accommodating therein each of the above-mentioned discs of different sizes. The disc, when mounted on the tray 201, is transported by the protruding or withdrawing movement of the tray with respect to a housing 202 of the player.
With compatible disc players having the above-described structure, if the manner of use of the player by the user is such that the CDs are frequently played as the player's usual playing media and the LDs are played occasionally, then the protruding and withdrawing movements of the tray 201 having a larger size than CDs, which movements occur each time a CD is played, appear to be clumsy and give an impression that the scale of the disc transportation part is excessive.
For eliminating the drawback of the compatible player shown in FIG. 1, a compatible player disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application No. 63-53747 and depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the present application was proposed. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, this compatible player is provided with a first tray 211, on which are provided two concentrically arranged circular concave portions 211a and 211b capable of accommodating therein the LDs having diameters of 30 cm and 20 cm (not shown) respectively, for transporting the discs carried thereon. The player is also provided with a second tray 202, on which is provided a circular concave portion 212a capable of accommodating therein the CD having a diameter of 12 cm (not shown), for transporting the CD carried thereon. The first and second trays 211 and 212 are arranged in parallel relation with each other, and the transportation of the disc to be played is performed by the protruding and withdrawing movement of respective one of trays 211 and 212 with respect to a housing 213 of the player. In this structure of compatible player, the second tray 212 is further provided with a semicircular concave portion 212b designed for receiving a part of the LD having the maximum diameter (about 30 cm) when the disc is mounted on the first tray 211. The second tray 212 is protruded and withdrawn together with the first tray 211 when the LD is transported. When, on the other hand, the CD is transported, only the second tray 212 is protruded and withdrawn with respect to the housing 213.
As explained above, with the conventional compatible player shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the drawback of the conventional compatible player shown in FIG. 1 has been relieved since protrusion and withdrawal of only the relatively small-sized second tray 212 are performed when the CD is played.
In the case of the conventional compatible player shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, two driving force apply devices are provided for respectively driving each of the couple of trays 211 and 212. The driving force apply devices include, for example, a toothed rack portion formed on each of the trays 211 and 212 in the direction extending along the direction of the movement of the trays, and a pinion gear meshed with each of the toothed rack portions. Since the first and second trays 211 and 212 are arranged in parallel with each other, the position of the circular concave portions 211a and 211b for supporting an LD and the position of the circular concave portion 212a for holding a CD are spaced apart by a relatively long distance. As a result of this configuration, it was not possible to provide only a single spindle motor and only a single pickup for playing all types of discs, so that a pair of spindle motors and a pair of pickups are employed respectively for playing the LDs and for playing the CDs. Thus, along with the necessity of the above-described provision of the two driving force apply devices, the provision of the two spindle motors and the two pickups has been causing the structure of the compatible player to become complicated, and also causing increase in cost.